Make It Stop
by nightwish-shadowstalker
Summary: SONGFIC, another one-shot. Based on Make It Stop by Rise Against. I don't own the song, but I do own all the character interpretations.


**Make It Stop (September's Children)**

**A/N: Second Rise Against songfic. I felt it was necessary. The video is sad, but kind of uplifting. On a happier note, I asked out the girl I liked and she said yes. ****Rated for a ****lot**** of swearing, violence and mentions of drug abuse/depression/serious violence.**

**UPDATE: I've taken down all the lyrics. Admin are complaining. Hmph.**

I dug my nails into my palms and tried not to notice the looks being thrown my way. I had Chemistry next, my worst subject – now was not the time to lose it. I went to my locker like I normally did, pretending to be oblivious, plugged into music.

There were stickers all over the door, and I picked idly at one of them with a black-varnished fingernail. It was the usual shit: fag, emo, dyke, lesbo, go die, et fucking cetera. Some days I could just ignore it. Some days – like today – I wondered what people thought they achieved by doing this. It didn't change me. All it did was upset me and piss me off.

Someone grabbed my bag off my shoulder and I twisted round. Oh, what a surprise, Mikey Locke and Beth Green. I used to know them. We were even sort of buddies in middle school; we used to hang out during recess and after class together. And as soon as we hit high school, suddenly I wasn't okay to be friends with. Bastards. They did this almost every fucking day now. I slid my headphones down around my neck and stepped towards Mikey, who had my bag. He smirked at me and threw it to Beth, expecting me to chase after it. This was their game. This was what had driven me to sit on my bed with the barrel of a gun against my temple, sometimes for an hour or more, debating whether or not to pull the trigger.

Well, not today.

I grinned straight back at him, took one deep breath, and socked him across the jaw. He hit the deck hard and started crying. I turned round to look at Beth. The shock was clearly written across her face.

'Oh, my god, she's finally gone completely fucking psycho.'

I walked over and took my bag out of her arms. She didn't resist. I glanced back at Mikey – still in a heap on the floor, still crying and clutching his jaw.

"Oh, get up, fatass," I said dryly, poking him with the toe of one Converse. "You got a bruise, big deal. You're lucky I didn't smash your nose instead." He didn't respond, so I knelt down and grabbed his wrist, pulling him up to his knees.

"If you ever try that again, sunshine, I'll break your fucking jaw. Okay?"

I turned and walked away without waiting for a reply. The circle of people – I didn't even know it was there – parted ahead of me.

I saw Josh in the canteen at lunch. He was sat – as per usual – with his nose in a textbook. He's not super-brainy, but he is pretty smart, and he works hard for it. He'll go a long way with that work ethic, people say.

I was going to go over and say hello, but as I watched, I saw the little line of kids built up close to him. They were lining up to have a go; spitting in his food, chucking things at him, flipping the tray. They always do it. Some days he just lets them, some days he fights back. Today he ran out of the hall, almost in tears.

'Oh shit, this isn't good.' I ran after him, going round the back of the canteen. I saw him dump his school bag and walk off in the direction of the highway.

I liked Josh – I was one of the few that did. We weren't close, but we had a couple of classes together and I knew that part of our friendship was the result of shared pain. And for what? For choosing to kiss someone of the same gender. For fuck's sake.

'I wish Georgia was here now.'

That's my girlfriend. She goes to a different high school, where things aren't as bad. We meet up every day after classes.

The irony of it is, Josh was one of the popular kids. Everyone liked him, even the kids who didn't know him that well. Then, a few months after our first term started, someone posted a picture of him kissing another guy on Facebook and he became an outcast overnight. That was cruel.

I ended up following him. He went up to the highway, walked halfway over the pedestrian bridge, then stopped, leaning over the railing.

'Oh god, he's thinking about jumping off.'

He stood there for a long time, watching the traffic. I thought he'd back down, but then he stood up – actually standing on the railing. That was the most terrifying moment.

I couldn't think. I was panicking. He was too far away for me to shout to him over the noise of the cars, and if he decided he wanted to fall, I was too far away to do anything. I ended up – this is pathetic – I rang his mobile.

I could hear it ringing, and he was still stood there.

Then he frowned, and carefully stepped down and slid his mobile out of his pocket.

"Josh?"

"Sarah? Why are you calling me?"

"Josh, I'm on the side of the bridge. I can see you. Please, please don't do it."

He ended the call and for one awful sickening second I was convinced he'd decided to jump. But he walked over to me.

"How did you know I was here?"

"I followed you. I saw what happened in the canteen – I saw you run out. I was scared for you."

He looked at me strangely. "I think you might have just saved my life."

I shrugged. "It's that kind of a day."


End file.
